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05-23-2005, 10:17 AM
| | |  HOLY MACARONI!! Mark King on bass!
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Oh my holy funcadelic lowend! Who said slap isn't cool? 
I just got a clip of Mark King and a band (i think it's Level 42) playing a tune here, live i think.... And yeah, this IS funk! This music is making me jump around and play air-slap bass! 
Total exctatic hysterical funk-synchopation jazz deluxe!!
Just listen: www.darkoceangame.info/x3000/level42.mp3
(Sorry about the rant, but i'm a total funk and slap head, and this is just the icing on the cake for me  )
Keep it funky!! 
-Erlend |
05-23-2005, 10:26 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Norway, Oslo | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Erlend_G Oh my holy funcadelic lowend! Who said slap isn't cool?
I just got a clip of Mark King and a band (i think it's Level 42) playing a tune here, live i think.... And yeah, this IS funk! This music is making me jump around and play air-slap bass!
Total exctatic hysterical funk-synchopation jazz deluxe!!
Just listen: www.darkoceangame.info/x3000/level42.mp3
(Sorry about the rant, but i'm a total funk and slap head, and this is just the icing on the cake for me )
Keep it funky!!
-Erlend | LOL, that's Mr. Pink, and I actually played that on a concert at school today. Going to do it on my exam in a week or so.
Probably the most "harry" song ever. But yeah, it actually is quite cool, although I think his intro solo is pretty lame. Not really my style, though. (Just doing it for the showoff.) |
05-23-2005, 11:16 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: The black hole of Cygnus X-1 | | | Mark King flat out &%@#&^* rules! Period! |
05-23-2005, 01:31 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brixton, South London | | As much as I respect Mark K's much copied style - he's a little old hat now - he's a great all round muso but there are plenty of people that slap like him now - this UK dude Stuart Clayton is probably one of the best 'respectful' imitators, he's written some good books on King's style and transcribed many of his tunes, his website has some clips on ( www.stuartclayton.com) - check out his version of Mr Pink: http://www.stuartclayton.force9.co.u.../Mr%20Pink.mp3
He's very tight and has the style down pat - enjoy.
Mike |
05-23-2005, 01:43 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Norway, Oslo | | | But this guy stuart clayton had a very boring slap-sound, though!
And it wasn't very tight either, if you ask me... |
05-23-2005, 03:19 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Denver | | | There is no bigger Mark King fan in the world than I. I've been into his stuff for 20 years.
I'm not going to agree that he's "old hat". That, to me, suggests that his "thing" was new and fresh at one time, but is now commonplace and non-notable. Balderdash...he still does what he does better than anyone else. And don't forget, he's usually singing too.
But...
He's in a rut. I think that the other guys who were in Level 42 with him (notably Boon Gould) were the songwriters and he was the executive. Since he's split from those guys (he still plays in a band he calls "Level 42", but he's the only original member), he has produced absolutely no new good music.
He released a solo CD called "One Man" in about 1998 that was full of mediocre songwriting and, oddly had a total absence of flashy bass playing. A little later, he released another solo CD called "Trash", which was full of stuff he had been working on but never released on CD...until he released them on CD. (?) With the potential exception of "Sooner or Later", which sounds so conspicuously like earlier Level 42 that I wonder if it perhaps was already written sitting a vault somewhere, there's nothing worth mentioning on Trash either.
The current incarnation of "Level 42" keeps releasing recordings, both audio and video. I can't get enough, so I buy every one. But they are all the same - live performances of all the same songs we've been listenting to for years. On the Level 42 website, someone asked Mark if he knew of any good Level 42 tribute bands. He responded tongue in cheek by saying that he was sure he was in a pretty good one, which I agree with - at this point Level 42 is merely a cover band of itself.
I would love, love, to see a new Level 42 recording where some writing collaboration between King and the old crew had been going on - or at least King and Wally Badarou, who was not in the band per se but had a lot to do with the writing.
Meanwhile, Alembic, Status, Jaydee, and Fender all offer or at some point have offered a "Mark King Signature" bass. So the guy must be making a good impression on others than me. |
05-23-2005, 05:07 PM
|  | The Funkfather
Endorsing Artist: Kohlman Bassworks | | Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Hampton Roads, Virginia | | Damn! Just.................................damn!! The other cat is good too but Mark King just throwing down licks off the top of his head like that is just frikkin' ridiculous! Geez, it's insane to have chops like that! And he's got the funk!!  |
05-24-2005, 07:51 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Edinboro, PA | | He's good, but most Level 42 songs are pretty cheesy and bland. I do like some of them though, Hot Water, Love Games, Something about you... and a few others, but they are all still pretty cheesy. Mostly due to lyrics and they keyboardists approach. 
He's actually got pretty good fingerstyle playing, but he doesn't use it as much as he should.
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05-24-2005, 11:25 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: The black hole of Cygnus X-1 | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Matt Till He's good, but most Level 42 songs are pretty cheesy and bland. I do like some of them though, Hot Water, Love Games, Something about you... and a few others, but they are all still pretty cheesy. Mostly due to lyrics and they keyboardists approach.
He's actually got pretty good fingerstyle playing, but he doesn't use it as much as he should. | I agree completely...however "World Machine" has some smokin' hot pop on it. |
05-24-2005, 03:53 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: England | | | Love his style and his sound.. |
05-24-2005, 06:01 PM
|  | Moderator
Endorsing Artist: Levy's Leathers Moderator | | Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Toronto/Niagara Falls, Ontario | | | Yea. I guess this guys okay...
yea right. This guys a monster. |
05-25-2005, 10:29 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Edmonton AB | | 
Damn, maybe I should start learning to slap... that's just frickin cool! |
05-25-2005, 10:44 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bay Area, California, USA | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by urb_munki | Wow. Not as good as Mark King playing it, but still amazing! The fingerstyle playing is so sweet, and the slapping is so relaxed and in the groove. I have some practicing to do! 
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05-25-2005, 10:58 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Tahoe-Reno with 16 ski resorts | | | I'm in awe of that Mark King clip!
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05-26-2005, 11:33 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: New York, NY | | | No, he doesn't double thump, but he remains one of the best "conventional" slappers out there. He's one of those guys that can keep a great groove going even while wanking.
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05-26-2005, 05:50 PM
| | | | Mark King uses a lot of double pops to make him sound a lot faster, but some of his actual slapping is ridiculous. I'm in the midst of learning Mr. Pink right now actually, the song part at least. If I can't find a tab for the live bass solo part then I'll figure it out by ear most likely. |
05-27-2005, 11:36 AM
|  | TalkBass: Usurping My Practice Time Since 2002
Endorsing Artist: Lyt Pedalboards Beta tester: Source Audio Moderator | | Join Date: May 2002 Location: Connecticut | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Norwegianwood But this guy stuart clayton had a very boring slap-sound, though! | I agree...it may have something to do with how it was recorded though. Victor Wooten has a great live sound, but listen to "A Show Of Hands" and his bass sounds small and rubbery. This recording sounds like this as well...just sort of rubbery and lifeless...reminded me of a midi file, while Mark King's live recording has a far more alive and powerful sound. |
05-27-2005, 11:50 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Norway, Oslo | | | Yep, I agree...still, it's not hard to get a more exiting sound than that!
I think Mark King is pretty cool. His solos tend to get a little bit out of hand, though....I don't really like them.
But he got a pretty good groove though!
Mr. Pink is a fairly easy song to slap - the tricky part is for the band to sound good, and not totally ridicilous... |
08-27-2005, 08:45 AM
| | Registered User
Rogue luthier employed at Knooren Handcrafted bass guitars | | Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Netherlands | | Level 42 were HUGE in Europe and when I attended middle school everybody was talking about "That Little blonde man playing a bass almost as big as himself by whacking the strings with his thumb."
I recently bought the "Level 42 live at Rockpalast" DVD which has two shows of 1983 and 1984 and King was in full steam on those shows. a real "Must have" for all funkateers. 
Mark King was the Flea of the eighties, the one who inspired countless bassplayers to stick out their thumbs and slap.
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08-27-2005, 10:15 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scotland | | 
Quote: |
Originally Posted by Erlend_G Oh my holy funcadelic lowend! Who said slap isn't cool?
I just got a clip of Mark King and a band (i think it's Level 42) playing a tune here, live i think.... And yeah, this IS funk! This music is making me jump around and play air-slap bass!
Total exctatic hysterical funk-synchopation jazz deluxe!!
Just listen: www.darkoceangame.info/x3000/level42.mp3
(Sorry about the rant, but i'm a total funk and slap head, and this is just the icing on the cake for me )
Keep it funky!!
-Erlend | Mark King is still my favourite bassist to date.One thing that does show in his playing is his grounding in drumming,so he's actually a drummer playing bass and that's a formidable formula for slapping and syncopation.He plays it so naturally and effortlessly and I truly despise comments which suggest that he's showing off;consider Muhamed Ali...was he showing off or was the great Pele ? I believe that if you've got talent then let it rip as it inspires others to better themselves.Here's some more great clips from Carl Muller's superb website... http://www.forevernow.com/realaudio.shtml | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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